The reason you want a metal bench for engine work is that you can get
it C-L-E-A-N *CLEAN*. When you're sliding a freshly machined
block or head around, you want to be absotively sure that there
are no little burrs that have dug their way into the wood
benchtop, just waiting to scratch that flat and smooth surface.
For disassembly, it doesn't matter. For assembly, it's almost
essential. (Don't bother telling me that you've been assembling
engines for years on the same piece of cardboard and never had
a problem - I've done assembly on a Masonite bench and lived
to tell about it, too. We're talking a perfect world here.)
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